By lillie may



J. M- EVANS. 'DECD.

l.- m. EVANS, ADMINISTRATRIXR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION men JULY 2. 1911. 7

Patented June 3, 1919.

4- SHEETS-SHEET I.

. J. M. EVANS. DECD.

L. M. EVANS; ADMINISTRATRIX.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1911.

Patented June 3, 1919.

4- SHEETS-SHEET 2.

aiw

J. M; EVANS. DECD.

L M. EVANS. ADMINISTRATRIXF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FIL'ED JULY 2. um.

1,305,451 Patented June 3,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 WAY-0w J. M. EVANS, DECD.

L. m. EVANS, ADMINISTRATRIX.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1911.

Patented June 3, 1919.

4- SHEETS-SHEET 4 Y UNITED STATES rxrnnr o en JAMES M. EVANS, DECEASED, LATE 0F WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT, BY LILLIE MAY EVANS, ADMINISTRATRIX, OF 'WESTPOBT, CONNECTICUT,ASSIG -NOB TO EVANS ENGINE COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application filed July 2,1917. Serial N0. 178,277.

' following is a specification In his application, Serial No. 151,950, he

described a rotary internal combustion engine adapted to be operated by the combustion of gases which are supplied to the engine preferably under pressure. The object of the present invention 15 to provide an engine of the same general type as that of the aforesaid application, but having self contained means for compressing the fuel gases, the necessity of providing separate compressing means is thus obviated and the engine is enabled to be directly connected to any suitable source of fuel supply such as a carbureter of any desired type.

With the above and other objects in view, as will more fully appear hereinafter, this invention comprises the novel combinations of elements described in this specification and pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is an end view partly in section of this improved engine with the exhaust cover, valve and head removed;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of this improved engine taken on the line H- II of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow and showing the inlet side of this improved engine;

Fig. 4: is a corresponding view of the exhaust side of this improved engine, the exhaust valve being partially broken away.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that this improved engine consists essentially of a cylinder 1 in which is mounted a rotating roller piston 2 mounted upon the crank in 3 of a crank shaft 4, which crank shaft is journaled in the cylinder head on the inlet side at 5 and in the cylinder head at the exhaust side at 6. Attached to the cylinder head and forming a gas chest or container, at the inlet side is a cover or compression chamber 7 and attached to the cylinder head at? the exhaust side'is a correspondlng cover 8 through which the crank shaft 4 passes. tures or guideways 9 in the cylinder heads and extending into enlarged portions 10 in extensions of the cylinder walls are three dividing partitions 11, which carry shoes at their inner ends which have sliding contactwith the surface of the rolling cylinder, and which are pivoted to blocks slidably mounted in annular grooves in the piston, as will Moving radially in aperbe more fully hereinafter described. These partitions divide the cylinder into three equal segmental parts or compartments, it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to any particular number of partitions or compartments, since obvibe employed.

Communicating with each compartment is an inlet passage 12 and an exhaust passage 13, which passages are controlled by some suitable means, such for instance as the rotary inlet and exhaust valves 14 and 15 respectively, which will be described more in detail hereinafter.

In order that the functions of the various elements may be more readily understood, a brief description of the operation of the machine as a whole will now be given.

Suitable compressed combustible gases are admitted from the compression chamber 7 to one of'the compartments of the cylinder, for example, compartment A. This admission commences as soon as the piston, which is moving in the direction of the arrow,passes the admission port 12 near the top of the compartment and the pressure of the gas causes the piston 2 to roll in the direction of the arrow, thus rotating the crank shaft 4. After the desired volume of gas has been introduced into this compartment, the inlet opening or port 12 will be closed by the inlet valve, as will more fully appear hereafter and the charge of gas thus introduced into the compartment will be exploded by somesuita ble means, such as the spark plug 8. The explosion or combustion of the charge of gas will, of course, result in expansion and increased pressure upon the piston 2 in the direction of .its rotation. As the piston passes out of compartment A and into compartment B, the exhaust port 13 of compartment A is opened, to permit the exit ously any desired number within limits may of the exhaust gases and at the proper time the inlet port of compartment B is opened to commence the operation of a cycle similar to that above described with relation to compartment A. Thus it is seen that an engine is provided which is capable of continuous operation and in which the energy losses, due to the rapid change in velocity of reciggocating members, is entirely eliminated.

eferring now more particularly to the construction of the engine, the crank pin upon which the piston 2 of the engine is mounted is preferably made in two parts,

one part having a recess 18 therein adapted to receive a pin 19 of the other part, the two parts being held together by some suitable means, such as screw 20. The piston consists essentially of a core 21, outer members 22 and 23 and a packing ring 24. The core 21 is in the form of a hollow annulus, the inner surface of which bears against the bearing 17 surrounding the crank pin. The outer surface of the core 21 has two annular recesses 2526 formed in it to receive outer members 22 and 23 and a groove in its outer surface 27 to receive packing ring 24. It will be seen from the construction described that the piston may be easily assembled and when assembled forms a rigid and compact whole. The outer members 22 and 23 are complementary and are preferably formed with teeth 28 at their inner edges, which teeth are adapted to interlock and with slots or annular grooves 29 in their outer edges adapted to carry the dividing partitions, as will be hereafter described. Packing ring 24 is a split ring which tends to expand and hold ti htly against the outer members 22 and 23.

The cylinder structure consists of two heads 31 and 32 and a cylinder 33 clamped therebetween. The heads have annular grooves, as shown at 34 for the reception of a ring-shaped extension on the cylinder 33. With this structure the unequal expansion of the heads and cylinder causes these parts to interlock and be held together very strongly. thus preventing all leakage. Attached to the head of thecylinders are'the two covers 7 and 8 heretofore referred to. As shown in the drawings, the cylinder heads are preferably provided with jackets 36. through which water or any other suitable cooling medium is adapted to circulate.

Both the inlet and exhaust valves 14 and 15 are keyed to the shafts 4, so as to revolve therewith, their position, with respect to the piston, being thus fixed. Inlet valve 14, which is shown in Fig. 3, consists of a valve disk 37 provided with a suitable number of apertures or ports 38, said apertures being arranged to give the desired inlet *ol'iod. The disk 37 is provided with a hub 39 which surrounds the bearing through which the shaft 4 passes, said hub being keyed to the shaft as at 40. The split rings 41 mounted in the grooves 42 of the bearing serve to make a tight joint at this point.

Attached to the outer surface of valve disk 37 is a cut-off disk 43, which is mounted in a groove in the face of valve disk 37 and is held from annular movement with respect to said valve disk by the screws 44. This cut-off disk also is preferably provided with a flange 43' at the outer surface thereof adapted to be received in a groove 7 formed in the member 7. This cut-off disk 43 is provided with apertures 46 which are adapted to register with the apertures 38 in the valve disk 37. Thus when it is desired to vary the cut-off of the gas, the cut-off disk is rotated with respect to valve disk 37 and secured in adjusted position by the screw 44,

thus producing a valve opening of a differ ent size. This change of relative position of the two disks may be accomplished automatically bv means of a overnor instead of manually, as above described.

Preferably, a counterweight is provided, such as is shown at 62 on the hub 39, so as to balance the weight of the piston. This counterweight may include an inwardly projecting portion 61 as shown. This inwardly projecting portion tends to compensate by centrifugal action the unbalanced pressure of the gas noon the inlet valve, such unbalanced pressure being due to the fact that two of the intake ports are closed, while the third is open.

The exhaust valve consists of the disk 47 shown in detail in Fig. 4, having apertures 48 therein, which apertures are adapted to register with corresponding exhaust ports.

- therein of the same general fol-mas. the exhaust ports but of larger size. This disk is held against the cylinder wall by means of screws 52 or in any other suitable manner. Underneath disk 51 and held against the cylinder wall thereby, is a disk 53 of flexible metal or other suitable material. to disk 53 are the rims 53 of the exhaust .ports 54. These rims may be conveniently held in place by clamping the edge of the thin flexi'ble disk 53 under a ring 55, which fits tightly within the rim of the exhaust port 54. It will thus be seen that the pressure of the gas against the flexible disk 53 forces it, and the exhaust port rims carried by it, downwardly against the face of ex- Attached 1 haust valve disk 47, thus insuring a perfectl tightjpint. If desired, a counterweig t ma be mounted on the exhaust side of the mac ine to correspond with the counterweight 62 above described.

The dividing partitions of which are shown 3, consist essentially of two side members 56, a centralQmember 57 and a bearing member 58. Each of said members 56 has attached thereto at its inner end a pin 59 adapted to fit in a recess formed in a seg- .mental block 60 mounted to slide in the groove 29 in outer member 22 or 23 of the piston. The piston may thus be rotated with respect to the block and the block may be oscillated with respect to the side members 56. The central member 57, which is mounted between members 56 and holds them in place, is provided with a recess 70 at its outer end and with a recess 61 at its inner end. Set into recess 61 is the bearing member 58 above referred to, which is thus permitted to move relatively to the other portions of the dividing partition. Bearing member 58 has attached to its inner end a slotted rod 62 which fits into a bearing in the shoe 63. This shoe is curved on its inner surface to fit the curvature of the iston and is held againstthe outer surface t ereof by means of a spring (not shown) in recess 61. Shoe 63 is provided with offset sides, and similarly shaped apertures 65 are provided in the cylinder walls for the reception of these shoes. Slots 66 Within which dividing partitions 11 operate, are provided in each cylinder head. It is thus apparent that the dividing partitions 11 may move freely in a radial direction, their radial motion being regulated by the position of the rolling piston and that the piston may move freely with respect to the partitions, a gas tight joint being obtained at the same time by means of shoe 63 and block60, which 45 shoe and block may freely oscillate with respect to the partitions.

It will be noted that recess is larger than is necessary to accommodate the divid ing partition and that recess v7O has been provided in'the end of the partition. These oppositely disposed recesses prevent the partition becoming broken or deformed by reason of any foreign matter which may lodge in the recess 10, since it will be appar- 55 ent that whatever the position upon the cylinder of the recesses, a place always remains in which air or gas may be trapped, thus permitting free motion of the partition in the recess by merely compressing the air or gas.

The engine above described is substantially the same as that described and claimed in the aforesaid application, Serial No. 151,950. The improvements which, as applied to the engine above referred to, or to any other engine in which the compression of the mixtures is not effected in the combustion cylinder or cylinders, constitute the present invention, will now be described.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, Within the compression chamber 7, a suitable number of compression cylinders are provided. In this particular embodiment of the invention three such cylinders are shown. Each cylinder is provided with a piston 7 2 which is reciprocated by a connecting rod 73, the connecting rods being operated from a crank pin 74 of crank shaft 4.

The chamber 7 is surrounded by an intake manifold 76 which communicates with any suitable supply of combustible gases, such as the carbureter 75. This manifold also communicates with each of the compression cylinders through a suitable check valve such as indicated at 77. Each of the pistons 72 is also provided with a check valve 78. During the retraction or intake stroke of each piston the valve 78 is closed and the valve 77 open. As a result a charge of combustible gas is drawn into the cylinder. Upon the advance or compression stroke of the piston the valve 77 is closed and the valve 78 is open, whereby the charge of gas is compressed and expelled into the main compression chamber 7. It will be obvious from the arrangement of c linders shown and described that the ow of gas through the pump as a whole is substantially uniform at a given speed, and consequently that the air is drawn into the carbureter at a substantially constant rate at agiven speed. For this reason the carbureter works under the most advantageous conditions, while the best conditions are maintained also for the operation of the engine, the pressure in the chamber 7 being maintained substantially constant so that each explosion is caused by the same quantity of explosive mixture. Moreover, on account of the constancy of pressure in the chamber 7, the time necessary to' fill an explosion chamber is substantially constant and the valves can be set for minimum time of opening. While the above described compressors are found to be satisfactory, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to compressors of this particular type.

The compression chamber 7 is kept supplied with compressed combustible gases by the means. described in the preceding paragraph, and the amount of gas thus supplied may be regulated by means of a suitable throttle such as shown at 79.

The manner in which the engine illustrated in the accompanying drawing is operated by compressed combustible gases supplied from the chamber 7 is hereinbefore clearly set forth. It should be noted, how'- ever, that the present improvements are not limited to engines of the type illustrated and described herein, but may be used to advantage in connection with any engine in which the compression of the gases is not effected Within the combustion or expansion cylinder or cylinders.

What is claimed is:

1. An explosion engine comprising an explosion chamber, a piston therein, a second chamber for receiving compressed gaseous fuel, means forming connecting ports betweensaid chambers, cylinders in said second chamber radiating from a common point therein, a common inlet tube for said cylinders surrounding said second chamber,

pistons in said cylinders having inwardly opening valves therein, and driving connections between said first mentioned piston and said second mentioned pistons.

2. An explosion engine comprising an explosion chamber, a plurality of abutments in said explosion chamber, a piston cooperating with said abutments, a second chamber for receiving compressed gaseous fuel, ports leading from said second chamber to said first chamber, a plurality of cylinders in said second chamber radiating from a point therein, the number of said cylinders being equal to the number of said abutments, a common inlet tube for said cylinders surrounding said second-mentioned chamber, pistons in said cylinders having inwardly opening valves therein, and driving connections between said first mentioned piston and said second mentioned pistons.

LILLIE MAY EVANS,

Administmz riw of the estate of- James M.

Evans, deceased. 

